May I
by ReginaCaelum
Summary: People come from all over the world, but there's only one that matters. And when it's all said and done, all they have is each other. old!Zutara.


**Disclaimer: disclaimed**

For a guaranteed cry, listen to watch?v=pU-Nr884rgo while reading!

* * *

There you stand open heart

Open doors

Full of life with the world

That's wanting more

* * *

Zuko is tired. It has been nearly ninety years of breathing and sleeping and crying and laughing and loving and breaking and his body is finally shutting down. For the past week, he's been bedridden, with healers tending to him around the clock. But everyone knows there's nothing to do except keep him comfortable.

Zuko is not afraid. So many are waiting for him: Aang, Uncle, Sokka, Mai, Toph, Mother. He does not doubt that they will find him. He misses his wife, his family, his beloved friends. He is tired of living without them.

Zuko is regretful, because the only thing he is really leaving behind is the most precious thing he's ever seen. Despite never admitting how he feels, he knows she knows. They've always understood each other, perhaps because they grew up more than anyone else during the war.

* * *

But I can see when the lights

Start to fade

The day is done

And you smile has gone away

* * *

He knows his time is fast approaching, and gently orders the healers to stop their futile work. They are dedicated servants and he sees grief in their eyes, but they of all people know when enough is enough.

From all over the world people have come to say goodbye. There are his friend's children: Kya and Bumi and Tenzin, holding little Rohan and accompanied by Pema and their children. Ikki and Meelo are sad and quiet, and stoic Jinora cries as her hero squeezes the young airbender's hand and wishes her well. Tenzin ushers his family out, but at the door the Fire Lord and the oldest airbender in the world exchange a glance. Then he is gone, and Toph's daughter tries not to glance at him as she enters. For once, she's wearing a dress instead of her police uniform, and he teases her gently. She does not stay long, and as the metalbending heiress walks out he hears a choked sob.

His daughter and her husband lead his grandson, Iroh, into the room, and the Fire Lord reads her father letters from Sokka and Suki's children in the South Pole. Iroh gently embraces his grandfather and promises to make him and his own namesake proud. After her son and consort give them some privacy, she whispers, "I don't know what I'll do without you. How can I rule without your guidance?" His warm golden eyes meet her identical ones and he answers, "You must do what you have always done." The Fire Lord rules her people well, with justice and calm; he does not worry for his land. She is stubbornly trying not to cry, but as she kisses him on the forehead and whispers "I love you," he feels wetness against his skin. His weathered thumbs brush against her cheeks. "My beautiful daughter," he murmurs, "You make me so proud."

Last to come is the Katara, supported by the Avatar. He's never meet Aang's reincarnation, but she's just as Katara described her as, kind, caring, boisterous, with a heart of gold and unrivaled beauty. Korra is sorrowful at his parting, but accepting. She squeezes his hand and kisses Katara on the forehead as she leaves.

"She's in love with a firebender, you know," Katara says.

Zuko chuckles and turns to look at her. "She's got good taste." The old waterbender gently stretches herself out on his bed and folds her hands demurely on her stomach. "Thank you for coming," he murmurs. "I know traveling is hard for you."

"I will always come for you, Zuko," she vows.

His lips tilt in a half-smile. "And I'll always take lightning for you." Katara hums in contentment.

"Aang came to me in a dream last month," she begins hesitantly, then sighs and turns her head. "He told me that…my time is coming, and I believe it'll be very soon." Her eyes are just as bright as they day he met her, all those years ago. "I've never wanted to live without you."

He asks, "Are you afraid?"

"No," the waterbender replies immediately, turning to stare at the ceiling. "Everything must come to an end, and death is no longer something I fear. The world is in good hands. Our job is done."

"Do you want to come back?"

She doesn't respond at first, and when she does, her words are thoughtful. "I would want to live again. There are…different choices I would make. Different people I would be with. But I do not regret my life." White hair cascades across her silk pillow, a stark contrast to the red and gold. "Do you?"

"No," he mimics, "We did what we had to do, and we did well. But I agree; in our next life, I do not want to have to put duty in front of my heart."

Her thin lips stretch into a genuine smile. She turns to him again. "I love you, Zuko."

They've said it to each other in moments of drunkenness, in despair, in fear. But never in lucidity, in soberness. And he knows she means it all the more for that. They loved when they were young, and they love when they are old, and their love was so strong that they were willing and able to put it aside for the sake of peace and stability.

So when he takes his hand from underneath the blankets and says, "I know," he knows she knows he means so much more. Her calloused hand slides into his and tears glitter in her blue eyes, and for a moment, he sees the fifteen-year-old woman with brown hair and smooth skin that he fell in love with so long ago.

_Beat._

Zuko's eyes are just as comforting as they have been through all her times of turmoil. "Are you ready?" she whispers, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

_Beat. _

He squeezes her hand. "I'm with you," he says simply.

_Beat. _

They can feel their hearts slowing, but instead of frightening them, the promise of rest beckons them softly, gently sending sleep to masquerade their coming deaths. Blackness settles over their eyelids and feeling fades from their bodies until all he can feel is Katara's hand in his, the warmth emanating from it so contradictory to her cooling element. With his last breath he forces his lips to open and whispers, "I love you, Katara."

And as he slides into blissful quiet, he could swear she says softly, "I know."

* * *

Let me raise you up

Let me be your love

* * *

Katara is hopeful, not just for herself. Death will bring new opportunities for her: a chance to see Aang and her dear brother and all of her friends, a chance to say the things she never did, a chance to live again and choose whom she really loves. She has hope for the world: all the chance and love Korra and her friends will bring, all the technology and innovation that will grow and adapt just as bending has.

Katara is loved. This she knows, even though she told no one of her impending passing. She is blessed by the love her family, blood and non, gives her. She knows that friendships as strong as hers will transcend time, and she looks forward to seeing Toph and Suki and Aang in her next life.

Katara is proud. She has done so much in her life: mastering waterbending at such a young age, defying her elders to do what was right, falling in love in so many different ways, raising three wonderful children, seeing her grandchildren, training the second Avatar, watching her grow into such a beautiful young lady. No matter what the choice was, she did it with an open and honest heart.

* * *

May I hold you, as you fall to sleep

When the world is closing in, and you can't breathe

May I love you, may I be your shield

When no can be found, may I lay you down

* * *

The next morning, the Fire Lord quietly summons Tenzin to her father's chambers, where the previous Fire Lord Zuko and Waterbending master Katara lay several feet apart, holding hands and smiling softly, dead in their sleep.

"They always loved each other, you know," she tells him through her tears, smiling painfully.

He lays a hand on her shoulder, his own heart clenching painfully. "I know."

* * *

All that's made me

It's all worth trading

Just to have one moment with you

So I will let go

All that I know

Knowing that you're here with me

* * *

I wrote this on a whim several days ago, and have been editing it until this morning, when I finally called it quits. It kind of ties into my previous AtLA fic, which is about loving someone so much that you're willing to walk away because you have to. All song lyrics are from Trading Yesterday's song "May I."

Please review.


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